Whether you’ve been in Youth Ministry since the revolutionary invention of the overhead projector or you’re fresh out of college with a guitar strapped to your back and a Frisbee in hand, there’s a good chance that you’ve asked yourself the question, “How do I get teens to come to youth group?”
I remember asking that question. Heck, I tried anything and everything: Food, guilt, bribery, doing their homework, whatever. I just wanted teens in the door so I could impart my wisdom . . . err . . . I mean, God’s wisdom upon them.
One time I went so far as to promise to shave my head if 200 teens showed up to our Fall Kickoff. That’s right. I got up during people’s favorite time to leave Mass, the pulpit announcements, and promised to shave off my gorgeous locks to get teens to come to our youth group.
As a single youth minister at the time, I thought the teens that didn’t normally come would show up because this handsome man was willing to put his extensive social life on the line for their sake: “I am the good youth minister; I lay down my hair for the teens.”
For some reason, I pictured them all flocking to Life Night following behind me as I rode on a horse like William Wallace in Braveheart shouting, “Freedom!” (Minus the hair, of course).
Alas, there was no horse. I did not turn into William Wallace. We did not get 200 teens at the Life Night so I didn’t shave my head. My flowing locks remained. Perhaps my line of thinking was off. Did I really believe that the teens who didn’t think that much of me and didn’t bother coming anyway would show up just so I had to shave my head?
It seems kind of silly now, but I know I am not alone. Many of us youth ministers do crazy things to get teens to come to our events. Sometimes we’re successful, and sometimes we’re not, but it’s all so teens will come to know the love of Jesus Christ.
Question:
What’s the craziest thing you’ve done to get teens to come to Youth Group? (Share a story below).
This one isn’t THAT crazy, but it worked! I gave “tokens” away for different things (such as attending LifeTeen, sitting on the “Teen Zone” during the Youth Mass, winning games, participating in activities, and even take-home tasks). The price? A $100 gift certificate to the local mall will be awarded to the teen who collects the most tokens by the end of July. There are also smaller prices to be awarded, such as for the teen who never misses a single LifeNight, the teen who invites the most friends, etc. The result? Out attendance almost doubled. The best part? Once we got the teens in the door through this incentive, they kept coming, and often not even caring about the tokens anymore. Some of them even lost their “token passport”, but that didn’t matter anyway. Once they built friendships, and more importantly, once they started to develop a relationship with Christ and a love for Him in the Eucharist (we have Adoration often), they just kept coming. Praise be to God, and to Him goes all the credit!
- Miri R, Merciful Redeemer Parish, Mississauga, Ontario (Canada)
Miri,
That is awesome! I love the idea! It’s kinda like the Catholic version of Chuck E Cheese. Praise God, and keep up the great work!
I did an accidentally crazy thing… I got all flustered in my announcements, trying to make them exciting (as we all do, right? There are only so many ways you can announce your youth group is on AGAIN!) and I said that our young adult weekend retreat away would be filled with “fun, faith, food, friendship… and any other f-word you can think of!” Coming from a young religious sister, that was a bit of an eye-opener… I followed it up with “I mean, all the GOOD f-words” but it was past damage control! Strange to say, lots of young people took flyers!
Sr Rosie, Sydney, Australia
Sr. Rosie,
That is f-antastic! I can only imagine…Thanks for sharing.
If each kid in the group did a send one kid got to pie me in the face. I also sprayed my hair pink and ate a cricket covered in bacon and cheese. That was just for shock value at a life night lol.
Michelle, a cricket covered in bacon and cheese?!? Wow! Was it dead or alive?
[...] ministers, we know that there are only so many times you can shave your head until you have to find a new way to get teens to come to youth group. Why not try a [...]